Tokai Electric Guitars | Vintage Quality & Tone!

The Tokai electric guitars released by the Tokai company in the 70's & early 80's represent the cream of the crop when discussing the Japanese replica guitars designed after the Vintage Fender & Gibson models of the the 50's & early 60's. Other companies such as Greco & Burny/Fernandes made some nice guitars, but the Tokai electric guitars are something special. In fact these great Japanese manufactured guitars are known as "lawsuit" guitars because, as the story goes, around 1981 representatives of the Big American guitar companies got a hold of some of these guitars & were so impressed (and threatened) by the quality & playability that they threatened litigation against the manufacturers.

Just like in the car industry, the Japanese guitar manufacturer's work ethic & attention to detail produced a product of equal or superior quality to its Fender & Gibson counterparts. Competition drove & continues to drive the Japanese market to produce higher quality electric guitars at lower prices.

In the US, Fender & Gibson have a corner on their respective markets, have no competition to drive them to improve, & rely on the nostalgia of their name to sell an average product at a hefty inflated price. Here in the states a well made Fender or Gibson guitar will cost you $3000 & up, while many of these Vintage 70's lawsuit era Tokai electric guitars can be had for well under $1500 on eBay.

If you are looking for Vintage Gibson & Fender era craftsmanship, quality & tone, without the 5 & 6 digit price tag, you'd be hard pressed to find a better replacement than one of these lawsuit era Tokai electric guitars. They are getting more & more valuable by the day & would make a wonderful & very functional addition to your guitar collection, & are virtually assured of appreciating as the years go by.